The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 777 Saudi Arabia’s Calculation

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

King Fahd called Prince Sultan.

"Prince, do you think we should import some fuel-air explosive bombs from Panshan Group?" King Fahd's eyes were bright and full of desire.

Watching the video, the huge mushroom cloud produced by the salvo was incredibly powerful.

If this is launched at the enemy during a war, it will definitely cause great damage to the enemy.

In King Fahd's view, the deterrent power of this fuel-air bomb is no less than that of a medium-range ballistic missile.

The benefits of Dongfeng Express were fully demonstrated in this Gulf War.

If Saudi Arabia had not taken Dongfeng Express out for a walk at the critical moment, maybe that madman Saddam would really order his troops to cross the Saudi-Kortostan border and attack Saudi Arabia.

King Fahd never had too much of a good weapon like this.

The more good weapons you have, the more peaceful you will sleep at night.

He doesn't have to worry about planes or missiles suddenly descending on the palace and can sleep well because Saudi Arabia has established a complete air defense system.

Anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, "Vanguard" individual air defense missiles, "Aegis" air defense missile systems, etc. constitute Saudi Arabia's complete air defense system.

It is not easy to break through Saudi Arabia’s radar system and air defense system silently.

Prince Sultan said: "We have to test it out. Panshan Group may not be willing to export such a powerful weapon."

"We have to give it a try. They are willing to sell DF-3, so they should be willing to sell this kind of fuel-air explosive bomb as well," King Fahd said. "Don't be afraid of spending money. You have to live to spend it. Europeans and Americans are wolves and tigers. We must have a strong military force to protect our wealth."

King Fahd is very dissatisfied with Europe and the United States.

In order to get Americans to evacuate, Saudi Arabia and other countries have to maintain low oil prices for three years.

In three years, Saudi Arabia alone has lost at least tens of billions of dollars.

If possible, he would rather use the money to build the army so that the army has strong combat effectiveness.

"Okay, I will go to China in a while, meet our old friend and ask him." Prince Sultan said.

King Fahd hesitated for a moment and said, "If possible, ask him if he is willing to sell us mushroom bombs. Three or five mushroom bombs will be enough!"

Mushroom bomb, this is the real killer weapon.

Currently, the only countries in the world that can legally possess nuclear weapons are the Soviet Union, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and France.

In other countries, it is illegal.

Like South Africa, everyone knows that South Africa has produced mushroom bombs, which can be imagined from the difficulties South Africa is facing now.

Like Israel, in the fifth Middle East war, in order to end the war, Israel shipped mushroom bombs to the United States under the supervision of the United States, the Soviet Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency, indicating that Israel no longer had mushroom bombs, only civilian nuclear power plants. However, Saudi Arabia and other countries did not believe that Israel did not secretly hide the mushroom bombs.

And Iraq was almost developing mushroom bombs, but they were blown up by the Americans in the Gulf War.

Others, such as India, have already lost the possibility of possessing nuclear weapons.

King Fahd knew that it was highly unlikely that Saudi Arabia would be able to develop its own mushroom bomb. Even if it had the capability, it would be sanctioned once it was discovered.

So if you can buy it with money, that's great. As long as it can be solved with money, it's not a big deal.

"Mushroom bombs are probably not realistic!" Prince Sultan shook his head and smiled bitterly, "China doesn't have many mushroom bombs of its own, how could it be willing to sell them?"

"If it was more than a decade ago, when the Chinese lacked foreign exchange, it might have been possible, but now they don't sell many weapons!" Prince Sultan shook his head and sighed, "Some people wanted to buy DF-3 from them, but they were rejected."

China now has foreign exchange reserves of over 10 billion US dollars, and this is despite China's continuous import of raw materials, food, production lines, oil, and purchase of gold. Otherwise, it would be much more.

At this time, using money to attack China is no longer as easy as before.

King Fahd smiled and said, "We have to give it a try. As for the fuel-air explosive bomb, the military version won't work, so we can negotiate in the name of firefighting, and import some firefighting tanks. We have so many oil fields, we have to be prepared in case one day the oil fields catch fire."

Prince Sultan immediately laughed.

There are many restrictions on military equipment, but it is different for civilian equipment.

There are not so many facilities for civilian use.

After King Fahd mentioned this, Prince Sultan immediately felt that the possibility of importing fuel-air bombs was still quite high.

"When you go to China this time, discuss more cooperation, send more people to study in China every year, and discuss more cooperation in oil." King Fahd said, "You are now the crown prince, so take Bandar and Khalid with you on this trip!"

Prince Sultan is the king's younger brother. He is not only a prince, but also the first deputy prime minister, minister of defense and aviation, and director general of the army. Prince Sultan is also the crown prince.

Prince Sultan has two sons, the eldest is Bandar and the second is Khalid.

Both sons have received elite education. Bandar is only 42 years old now, but he has already had a rich political career. In 1978, he successfully persuaded the US Congress to sell F15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. In 1983, he was appointed Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Prince Sultan, however, heard the hidden meaning in the king's words, which was that he was dissatisfied with his son Bandar being too pro-American.

Since being appointed as Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Bandar has spent a long time in the United States and part of his time in Europe, and has extensive connections in Europe and the United States.

If it was in the past, it would be fine.

But now, times have changed and we have to learn to strike a balance.

There is a profound meaning behind letting Sultan take Bandar and Khalid to China this time.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Prince Sultan responded.

Saudi Arabia is the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, much more than any other country. With such a huge amount of oil, Saudi Arabia does not need to find it as difficult to earn foreign exchange as other countries. For Saudi Arabia, earning foreign exchange is easy.

On the contrary, Saudi Arabia is worried that it has too much foreign exchange and needs to spend it.

Saudi Arabia has a lot of assets in Europe and the United States. Although the Saudi royal family is not as good at managing finances as the Kuwaiti royal family, this is only relative.

The Saudi royal family has huge overseas assets. Even if the Saudi royal family loses Saudi Arabia one day, they can still hope to restore it with their overseas assets. Even if they cannot restore it, they can still enjoy a luxurious life with their huge overseas assets.

However, the Saudi royal family must also seek benefits and avoid harm, diversify its investments, and not rely too much on any one country.

Saudi Arabia is now holding high the banner of non-alignment and independence, and the most it can do is to form an Arab coalition to promote the Arab League's development towards integration.

Being too pro-American is not a good thing for someone like Bandar, because it is easy to be labeled, and the United States’ image in the Arab world is not good right now.

(End of this chapter)